Comments on: “I’d Been the One who the White Boys Wanted to Barnstorm Against” – Why Jackie and Not Satchel?http://itspronouncedlajaway.com/2013/04/14/id-been-the-one-who-the-white-boys-wanted-to-barnstorm-against-why-jackie-and-not-satchel/
A Member of the ESPN SweetSpot NetworkTue, 31 Mar 2015 12:51:05 +0000hourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=4.1.1By: Sean Porterhttp://itspronouncedlajaway.com/2013/04/14/id-been-the-one-who-the-white-boys-wanted-to-barnstorm-against-why-jackie-and-not-satchel/#comment-15363
Tue, 16 Apr 2013 03:24:47 +0000http://itspronouncedlajaway.com/?p=9350#comment-15363I think an interesting by-product of the integration (or as Stephanie accurately describes it the “re-integration”) of MLB was the eventual power-shift for a generation from the American League to the National League.

The Dodgers, as a result of adding Robinson, Campanella and Newcombe would dominate the N.L. in the late 40s and into the 50s, (they would win the N.L. pennant in ’47, ’49, ’52, ’53, ’55, ’56) and it forced other N.L. teams to integrate or be left far behind.

The lily-white New York Yankees ruled the A.L. at the same time, (they would win five World Series titles in a row between ’49-’53) so the perceived need of most of the A.L. teams to integrate wasn’t as strong. While the Indians, a very successful, somewhat integrated team of that era came undone because of financial problems in the late 50s, one could say that the other powerhouses in the A.L. – most notably the Red Sox and Yankees – eventually weakened because of their views on race.

By the 1960s, the National League would become the top dog for years.

]]>By: Stephanie Lisciohttp://itspronouncedlajaway.com/2013/04/14/id-been-the-one-who-the-white-boys-wanted-to-barnstorm-against-why-jackie-and-not-satchel/#comment-15357
Tue, 16 Apr 2013 02:26:20 +0000http://itspronouncedlajaway.com/?p=9350#comment-15357Right, I think Doby probably was rushed. Plus Robinson had time to adjust to everything and mentally prepare for it. While Doby knew he was being scouted, it was a shock for someone to show up and pretty much be like “you’re an Indian, head to Chicago and meet the team.” Bill Veeck always said that he thinks Doby would have been even better if he didn’t have to deal with all of the stress, just as you say with Robinson.
]]>By: Stephanie Lisciohttp://itspronouncedlajaway.com/2013/04/14/id-been-the-one-who-the-white-boys-wanted-to-barnstorm-against-why-jackie-and-not-satchel/#comment-15356
Tue, 16 Apr 2013 02:24:32 +0000http://itspronouncedlajaway.com/?p=9350#comment-15356Hmmm, that’s a fascinating question and I will do my best to answer it. I always took the “experiment” to mean that baseball would remain integrated. There was a lot of fear at the time that something would go wrong, that somehow owners would end up forcing baseball to re-segregate. So I guess in that regard it was about Robinson opening the door for other black players. That if the Robinson “experiment” was successful, then it would prove the hypothesis that integrated baseball was better. Obviously even though a lot of Negro Leaguers would make the majors, many never did – either due to age, or they just weren’t successful. So in that regard, there were a jobs lost.

I think that when you look at Brown v. Board of Education, it’s even more complex. While there were teachers that lost jobs after integration, I personally think a lot of problems with the schools started when you had white families fleeing newly integrated districts…often heading to the suburbs. You have schools that are almost as segregated as pre-Brown v. Board, particularly when comparing urban districts to suburban districts. (And because of the socioeconomic conditions, it basically becomes an issue of the haves and have nots). I actually taught middle/high school in a past life – at one point I was in a very poor, urban school and later ended up teaching at a school in a very affluent, primarily white suburb. While I preferred the students at the urban school, there were things with the way it was run that were just a train wreck. A lot of the teachers were right out of college (like me) and a couple of the administrators were people that had pretty much been fired out of every job in the county – their “last chance” was at the poor urban school. How is that every going to succeed? You’re putting the most inexperienced people in the job, with incompetent administrators who had been fired from every other job. (And I’m not saying all administrators in poor districts are like this, I’m just speaking to my specific experience). I’ll just say that the whole public education experience in general was so disheartening to me. I loved and hated it at the same time (loved teaching, hated everything bureaucratic about it) and it gets to a point where you can barely teach because of all of the other garbage. There may be a way to study it and make better direct connections, but this is what I think from my experience and my knowledge.

Thanks for your comment and questions! It really made me think (which sometimes hurts my brain, but is ultimately a good thing).

]]>By: J. Marie Greenhttp://itspronouncedlajaway.com/2013/04/14/id-been-the-one-who-the-white-boys-wanted-to-barnstorm-against-why-jackie-and-not-satchel/#comment-15339
Mon, 15 Apr 2013 14:55:21 +0000http://itspronouncedlajaway.com/?p=9350#comment-15339Hello Stephanie, you wrote a very good article about the integration of baseball, but I would like to propose a two-fold question to you. Jackie Robinson being allowed to play with the Brooklyn Dodgers has been called a “great experiment” but what was that “experiment”? That he could take abuse and still play baseball, or that his brave attitude open the door for other Black players to enter major league baseball? But in this integration process the Negro Baseball League was wiped out. This has similar results as the Brown v. Board of Education case where Blacks gave in to integration to sit next to white children in public schools, we lost all of the great Black teachers and now public education is a joke. Give your opinion on comparing and contrasting these two events in Black History. Thanks, keep writing good articles!
]]>By: Sean Porterhttp://itspronouncedlajaway.com/2013/04/14/id-been-the-one-who-the-white-boys-wanted-to-barnstorm-against-why-jackie-and-not-satchel/#comment-15308
Sun, 14 Apr 2013 19:28:37 +0000http://itspronouncedlajaway.com/?p=9350#comment-15308Great article Stephanie, really nails down the reasoning behind the choice of Robinson and Doby (even if it could be argued that Veeck rushed Doby before he was ready)…

While we as Indians fans know that Larry Doby has been virtually relegated to a footnote in history by the attention given to Jackie Robinson – it could also be argued that Jackie Robinson’s own talent has been overshadowed by his accomplishment as the first black in the majors in the 20th century.

Robinson, already 27 when he debuted with the Brooklyn Dodgers, posted a lifetime .311 batting average, .409 on-base % and from 1949-54 racked up six consecutive 900+ OPS seasons.

Not only was Robinson clearly a better choice to break the color barrier than Paige for all his intangibles – he was more than qualified as a player. (In fact, there’s a scene in the movie ’42’ where Rickey rattles off some names of Negro League players and why they were not chosen over Robinson…)